Western History Collections

Explore digitized manuscripts and photographs from the Western History Collections for research. The digital collections include oral history interviews, Native American manuscripts, OU history, and much more.

The Photographic Archives is perhaps the best known and most heavily used unit of the Western History Collections. It contains approximately 2 million images representing a wide variety of photographic processes and subjects, and contains both glass plate negatives and original prints.

The Western History Collections Library, with more than eighty thousand volumes, comprises one of the leading special collections of published Western Americana in the world. The Library contains a general collection, known as the Frank Phillips Collection, plus smaller collections and private libraries that focus on specialized topics.

The Western History Collections holds over 2,000 collections of primary textual materials (manuscripts) on Oklahoma and the West. These collections offer unique opportunities for scholarly research on the history and culture of the Trans-Mississippi West and Native Americans. Among the types of original materials in the manuscript collections are diaries and journals, personal and official correspondence, literary manuscripts, business records, and scrapbooks. The subjects covered by these collections are diverse, and include records of the Five Tribes in Oklahoma, expansion and settlement of the American West, and businesses that contributed to the development of the Trans-Mississippi West region.

The University Archives holds many series of official records produced by the colleges and administrative departments of the University of Oklahoma from 1890 to the present. For example, the official papers of OU presidents are housed in the University Archives, beginning with those of the first president, David Ross Boyd. Also included are official publications of the university, such as yearbooks, commencement programs, student newspapers, football programs, telephone directories, and general catalogs.

The Western History Collections has maps and posters that complement the manuscript materials. Map collections include 5,200 maps of Oklahoma, Indian Territory, and surrounding areas, documenting the history and development of Oklahoma from its inception as Indian Territory in 1836 to its present status as the 46th state in the union. Poster collections include over 900 posters depicting advertisements for wild west shows, patent medicines, Native American art, and Oklahoma political candidates, as well as American propaganda posters for World Wars I and II. 

The sound recordings collection has over 2,500 cassette tapes, vinyl records, compact discs, and reels containing both music and the spoken word in many languages. They include Native American songs and folklore, oral histories by Oklahoma pioneers and historical figures, classical and folk music, books on tape, radio programs, and recordings related to University of Oklahoma history.

Faculty are encouraged to use the Western History Collections in their classes. Contact Western History Collections to schedule virtual orientation sessions or specialized instruction on class topics for undergraduate and graduate students.